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How can I teach my children real life lessons?
Maybe your children are tired, maybe you're tired - there are so many factors that could derail a home education lesson. Don’t worry! You can help your child to learn outside of the lesson by using everyday activities like:
- Demonstrating fractions as you cut sandwiches for lunch.
- Discussing the storyline and characters if you're watching TV together.
- Using their sports team’s league table to calculate points tallies.
Video - How to teach your children lessons from life with Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singer and mum-of-five, suggests some ways to use real life as inspiration for education at home.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
If you’re cooking something then what are you doing? Home economics.
If you divvy up the pie into equal fractions… that’s maths.
Tidying up is art? I think that’s pushing it a little bit.
I’ve got five kids. Some days we’ve just had to say the structured school set work is just not working for us.
Adalaine and Yickman:
Some days Isaac, he’ll just be like… I just don’t want to do this today, to be honest with you.
Sharon:
I find the more I try and force her [young daughter] to finish her work, she gets more frustrated.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
We’ve had the odd tantrum. There’s been sometimes outright defiance, I’m not doing that, I don’t like that.
Adalaine and Yickman:
You have to be a bit more creative and think right, how can he learn through practical, everyday things that we have around.
Sharon:
We go out for a walk, we can go picking up sticks, count them and put them into sections of the biggest or the smallest.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
If it’s a pie and you make a nice pastry top, that’s art.
Adalaine:
When we’re baking, Isaac knows the difference between how many grams there are in a kilogram…
Yickman:
A kilogram? How much sugar are you using?
Adalaine:
I’ve just taught him the metrics! (Laughs)
We were doing a snowball fight and Isaac said Mummy, it’s all about the density! And I was like, oh, it stuck!
Yickman:
I think if you make learning fun, kids just gravitate towards it and want to do it.
Adalaine:
Isaac really does enjoy those practical things, it’s a break away from his PC, a break away from any books or paperwork, and I think that’s really necessary.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
So there you have it, lots of examples how real-life situations can become lessons.
I think we’ve all got to just give ourselves a lot of slack, because anything is fair game in this situation. This is not what we signed up for, is it?
Whatever you’re doing, you’re doing a great job. Hang in there! This is extraordinary times so, cut yourself some slack.
This video was recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope the advice will remain relevant and helpful to parents educating their children at home.
Home education hacks: Finding lessons in real life
- Some days you'll struggle to get your kids to sit and focus on a home education lesson. That's totally normal. When a lesson just isn't working, take a break and consider other ways your child could learn.
- Learning can be anywhere! While you're making lunch, you could show them fractions as you cut the sandwiches. If you're watching TV together in the evening, you could talk to them about the story, what the characters are saying and how they might be feeling - that's a valuable English lesson!
- Think about their hobbies and interests. If they're into football, for example, take a look at the league table - you could show them how many wins and draws a team has and ask them to work out their total points tally (remember three points for a win, one for a draw).
- You can always come back to a lesson, but in the meantime, open your mind and there are endless ways to teach your child.
Where can I find more support for home education and parenting?
The BBC Bitesize home education collection is designed to support you and your child’s learning at home with free resources for early years and foundation stage (EYFS), primary and secondary-age students.
Bitesize Parents’ Toolkit is the go-to place for the whole parenting community to find stories, expert advice and fun activities.
If your child has special educational needs and / or disabilities, be sure to check out the Parents’ Toolkit SEND collection.
For more information about home education, these BBC News articles cover the rise in families deciding to educate their children at home and, from 2021, the impact of Covid on home education.
